The Polyjuice Plot
by DoublePea
Summary: SUMMARY: Harry Potter is sighted in Diagon Alley buying his schoolbooks with Hagrid. The story, complete with pictures is printed in the Daily Prophet on page one. It will change the actions of Ron, Ginny, and Draco. AU
1. Chapter 1 The Return of Harry Potter

The Polyjuice Plot

BY Double Pea

SUMMARY: Harry Potter is sighted in Diagon Alley buying his schoolbooks with Hagrid. The story, complete with pictures is printed in the Daily Prophet on page one. It will change Ron, Ginny, and Draco. AU

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am not now nor have ever been J. K. Rowling. I wish that I could get paid by writing this, but I feel that I'm pushing my luck to hope that people might want to read it for free. In other words, it all belongs to someone else. All I own is a strange sense of humor!

Author's Note: Thank you, Spenser Hemmingway for editing and suggesting improvememts.

Chapter 1 - The Return of Harry Potter

As Harry Potter followed Hagrid through a very, very old pub, he was surprised as strangers started introducing themselves. "Very happy to meet you, Mr. Potter, I'm Doris Crockford," said a strangely dressed woman. Well, actually, everyone looked strangely dressed. What was the idea of addressing him as "Mr. Potter"? So far, the experience could be summed up as odd. He hadn't been able to wrap his mind around the fact that he was apparently a wizard. Freak- now, that he had heard often enough, but he didn't think that he had ever been called, Mr. Potter.

He continued to follow the large man across the pub to a wall. Why in the world could they have come all this way to walk into a pub and go to look at a wall? Maybe he shouldn't just have accepted Hagrid's statement that he was a wizard and follow him to "get his school books". He barely had time to consider this thought when he noticed that Hagrid had a umbrella in his hand and appeared to be touching certain bricks in the wall. Suddenly, the wall opened up and Harry could see a street in front of him with shops and more strangely dressed people. He moved into the street behind Hagrid. After taking a few steps, he couldn't resist turning around to look at where he entered. His mouth dropped open, because the opening was gone and only a wall stood in its place.

"Hurry up, Harry," urged Hagrid. "We have lots of shopping to do, but first we need to go to the bank and get money."

"I don't have any money. I wish that you had mentioned it earlier. I could have saved us some time. I guess I'll have to stay with my aunt and uncle. I'm sorry that I have wasted your time."

"Harry, your folks left you money to go to Hogwarts in Gringotts Bank. Professor Dumbledore gave me your vault key. " He then told Harry all about the goblins who ran the bank. Harry was pretty shocked when he saw his first goblin. They looked like something out of Dudley's horror movies that he would sneak downstairs and watch on the telly late at night. Harry only watched part of a couple of them, when he decided he had plenty of nightmares in his life and he didn't need more material for new ones.

He enjoyed the ride to his vault and looked forward to returning. Armed with the weird looking money that Hagrid explained to him as Galleons, Knuts and Sickles that made up wizard money; they exited the bank and began their shopping.

Harry had never brought anything for himself. The whole experience was so shocking, that he couldn't get his head wrapped around it. He felt like he was buying this stuff for someone else. His Aunt Petunia wouldn't want him to have NEW stuff. After getting the textbooks on his list, cauldron, and potion equipment, he entered the clothing store on his own while Hagrid ran an errand. Harry considered running away. He had never walked into a store on his own. He never had money to buy anything and the shopkeepers in Little Whinging wouldn't have let him in even if he had money. Everyone listened to his aunt and uncle complaints about Harry's behavior and criminal tendencies. They believed what they heard, too. So it was with a great deal of hesitancy that he opened the door to Madam Malkin's and entered the store. Fortunately, he was greeted by a lady's voice asking him if he wanted Hogwarts robes. He found himself a moment later standing on a box next to a blonde haired boy who was also being measured.

After listening to what sounded like bragging, Harry realized that he had just met a short thin wizard version of Dudley Dursley. He was so revolted that the first wizard student his age was not someone he even wanted to know. This blond idiot had ruined Harry's hopes of finding a friend. Pessimistically, he thought, they were all going to be this stuck up and nasty. He didn't need to make any response to the kid, since he was enjoying listening to himself talk so much, he didn't even give Harry a chance to get a word in edgewise. He had a strange name. What was it? Dragon, Madfly, something like that. Not that he cared. Harry left the store with instructions to pick up his school robes in two hours. He spotted Hagrid coming towards him, not that it was hard to spot Hagrid. He was huge, probably the tallest person he had ever seen.

"Did you get all fixed up with your robes?"

"We need to pick them up in two hours. Is that an owl?" asked Harry. He was astounded to see a pure white owl in a cage. In school he had learned that owls were nocturnal and slept during the day. They were wild birds and people didn't keep them around the house in cages as pets.

"This here's a birthday present for you Harry. You can bring one pet to school, an owl, rat, or a toad. I thought that you might like an owl. They can carry mail."

"Thanks, I've never gotten a birthday present that I can remember." Harry wanted to be polite, but he was thinking, I don't have anyone to mail anything to, or get mail from. An owl is a rather strange pet, but is definitely preferable to a toad or rat. About that time the owl opened her eyes and looked into Harry's. Her gaze connected to Harry's and he accepted that he now had a pet. Reaching out, he stroked her feathers. Meeting a friend with feathers went much better than meeting a friend that was a dumb blonde.

A visit to the wizard store that sold ice cream made a hit, even if there were some unusual flavors. He ordered a "Muggle Special" which was just plain chocolate ice cream, but it had sprinkles on top that moved. Harry continued to watch the crowd while he was eating. Hagrid took Harry to Ollivander's Wand Shop. He couldn't see anyone when they walked in. Shortly an old man with white hair popped into view. He seemed to know far too much about Harry. Then, he measured Harry for a wand. At least that was what he claimed to be doing. Yeah, right, why would one need to know how long your nose was to find your wand size?

"Here, wave this around a little," said the man as he handed him a wand. Nothing happened. The next one sent out a couple of sparks, followed by one that emitted smoke. Harry was getting very annoyed. No one told him what the wand would do if it were the right one for him. Suddenly, when he waved the latest wand to be placed in his hand, a shelf of boxes flew onto the floor and Ollivander grabbed it out of his hand. Harry was getting gun shy of trying wands when finally a large burst of sparkles flew from the wand in his hand. Harry was so busy looking and feeling his new wand that he missed whatever the old man was blathering on about.

A quick visit to pick up his robes, and they were ready to go back to Harry's aunt and uncle's. Hagrid led him back to the location to use Portkeys, as Harry looked around. Yes, the whole place and everyone he met were a little to a lot odd.-very odd. Harry never knew that someone in the pub sent a tip into the newspapers. By the time he came out of the bank, there were cameras and reporters all around watching Harry meet the Wizard World. Tomorrow's paper, complete with pictures, would tell the tale of Harry's first visit to Diagon Alley.

Chapter 2 – Plotting and Traveling

MALFOY MANSION

Three people were seated at the breakfast room. Everything was very prim and proper. Hair was combed, and people were formally dressed. A small house elf quietly entered the room with more food and removed empty plates. The boy, Draco Malfoy, silently ate his breakfast while he dreamed of his arrival at Hogwarts. He visualized the other students being impressed with him. iYes, they will defer to me since I am after all, A MALFOY, whose name speaks wealth, power, and fame. I'll be at the top of my class. After all, how can I not be when they let mudbloods and half bloods in the school? Fortunately, I'll be in Slytherin and won't have to tolerate them. i

The room was very quiet, broken only by the sound of pages being turned in the daily newspaper the blond man was reading. When he was finished, he looked up at his son. "Well, Draco, it appears that we went to Diagon Alley on the same day as Harry Potter made his first appearance. Did you by any chance see him?" he aked passing the paper over.

Draco looked over a few pictures before answering his father. "Yes, father, I did see him. He was in Madam Malken's getting robes when I was there."

"Did you talk to him? What did you talk about? What did he say?" firing out questions quickly.

"I don't remember much. I think that I was talking about having my robes made for Hogwarts. He didn't say anything. He seemed pretty dumb. He didn't even introduce himself. No manners at all."

"Well, this is what I want you to do. When you get to Hogwarts, I want you to introduce yourself and make friends with him. It is most important that he confides in you about what he is thinking and what he does. Find out where he is living."

Draco looked at his father. He was more serious than he had ever seen him. What if he couldn't become friends with Potter? He didn't want to ask what would happen. He could tell that he wouldn't like the consequences at all. It wasn't good to disappoint Father.

THE BURROW

Seven people were seated around the kitchen table. The mother and father were dressed, but only one of the children was. George, Fred, Ron, and Ginny Weasley sat in their pajamas, hair uncombed, still half asleep. Only Percy, their older brother, sat immaculate as if he were going to school this morning. The table was full of food, and everyone was involved in eating and talking with each other, except Percy, who was reading a book as he ate. Mr. Weasley was reading the paper before he left for work.

"Look who was in Diagon Alley yesterday," he announced pushing the paper in the middle of the table.

Immediately all heads turned to look at the pictures of Harry Potter shopping for his school supplies. After everyone looked at the pictures, Ginny, the only girl and the youngest of the children, reached out for the paper. A smile lit her face as she saw a picture of Harry Potter for the first time. She had heard his story since she was four. She had a Harry Potter doll, using it to role-play her future life as Mrs. Harry Potter. Of course, that was a couple of years ago, as she was a mature ten years old now.

Her brother Ron, who was only a year older, and was going to attend Hogwarts this year, noticed her rapt attention to Harry's face. As only an older brother can, he punctured her dreams simply by saying, "It's a shame that you aren't going to Hogwarts this year. By the time you get there next year, Harry will have lots of friends. He won't even notice you." With that cheerful announcement, he went back to eating ignoring the downcast look and tears welling in his sister's eyes.

"You can never have too many friends, Ginny," consoled her mother. She cast a nasty look at Ron, but he was focused on eating and didn't notice.

Ginny asked, "May I be excused?" And left the room with the paper in hand.

Her twin brothers, who were older than Ron, soon followed her. They stood on either side of Ginny and patted her shoulder, "If we can do anything to help you get even with Ron; let us know. He was being a real git to you."

Ginny spent a few days thinking of what Ron had said to her. She mulled over many options. Should she turn his hair Slytherin green? Should it be worse? What did he deserve? Knocking on the twins' room she entered, speaking softly, so her voice wouldn't be heard in the hall. "Did you mean what you said about helping me get even with Ron?"

" George and Fred looked at each other, and spoke in unison, "Anything for you, Ginny."

"Okay, this is what I was thinking about doing." She proceeded to outline her idea. By the time she finished, the twins' mouths were hanging wide open. "We didn't expect that, but we think we can help you pull it off. Remind us not to get on your bad side."

TRAVELING

Kings Cross Station was full of people, but Harry felt isolated and alone. It was pretty understandable, since his uncle had dumped him at the entrance of the train station like a bag of garbage. He did get out of the car, hauled Harry's trunk out, and raced off without so much as a good-bye. Harry managed to find a cart and get his trunk on it. There were people standing everywhere. The hustle and bustle was overwhelming for Harry. Wheeling his cart around people, he followed the signs to Platform 9. He looked around and saw the sign to Number10. There was no sign for 9 ¾. There was no one around, so he did the only thing that he could think of. He got his wand out and started tapping on the bricks on the wall exactly as Hagrid did at Diagon Alley. Nothing happened, except he heard some laughter behind him. Turning around, he saw a group of redheaded people. The mother of the group smiled at him.

"Are you going to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, ma'am, but I don't know how to get onto the platform."

"We'll show you how, just watch George and Fred." Two of the red haired boys ran at the wall with their luggage carts. Harry's eyes opened wide as he saw them vanish into the wall. " Ron is going to school this year, too. Why don't you go with him?"

Another red haired boy, who was taller than him, looked over and grinned. "Hi, I'm Ron Weasley."

"I'm Harry Potter," he replied with a smile back.

They faced the wall and ran through. The sight of the steam engine and the platform full of families was exciting on one hand, but also depressing because he didn't have a family to send him off. The rest of the Weasleys came through the wall and the oldest three, said good-bye, and climbed onto the train. Mrs. Weasley hugged the youngest, telling him to write and to study hard. Then she surprised Harry by hugging him.

"I hope you also have a good year, and maybe you and Ron can become friends," she told him.

"You want to sit with me, Harry?" asked Ron hopefully.

"Sure," responded Harry with a smile. This was the most normal experience he'd had in the Wizarding world yet, and the first hug that he could remember. Ron seemed really nice; maybe he had found his first friend.

They climbed on the train and were struggling with their trunks, when George and Fred, Ron's brothers came down the aisle. "Let us help you two out with your luggage." In a short while, they were sitting in a compartment, watching the station become smaller as the train traveled farther away.

Ron smiled at Harry, "I'm happy to be going to Hogwarts. I'm the sixth child in my family to attend. My two oldest brothers have graduated. Bill is the oldest and he is a curse breaker who works for Gringotts Bank. Charlie works with dragons on a reserve in Romania. My next oldest brother is Percy. He's in his fifth year and is a prefect. That means he tries to find anyone not following the rules. I'm planning on staying away from him. I like to have fun. The twins that helped with our luggage are Fred and George. They like to have fun and play pranks on people. That leaves one brother that I left at home."

"I wish I had family. I live with my aunt, uncle, and a cousin. They aren't really family, more like people that wish I had died with my parents." Harry lost his smile by the time he finished.

"I have problems with my brother that's at home. He doesn't think of my feelings and makes me unhappy. He doesn't like to play with me."

"Next year, we'll ignore him," suggested Harry.

"I would like to be your friend, Harry. I don't have very many. We live in the country, outside a small town. "

"I don't have any friends at all, Ron. My cousin would beat up anyone who talked to me. I would like to be friends with you also." He reached out and shook hands with Ron.

They both said "Friends". Ron looked shyly at Harry, "I've got a secret, Harry. I wanted to come to Hogwarts and meet you. I traded places with my brother Ron."

"Didn't he want to come to Hogwarts?"

"I didn't ask him. He told me that by the time I got to school, you would have lots of friends and I would just be another little kid to you. I asked the twins for help and here I am. Are you going to turn me in?"

"Of course not, you are the first person who wanted to be my friend. Nobody else has ever cared enough for me to get into trouble. Tell me how you switched places"

" In my house, you learn some spells when you are young that you would normally learn in Hogwarts. We play pranks on each other, so you have to learn how to prank the other person back. You have to understand that my brother is a very sound sleeper. He didn't even notice when the twins and I moved him from his bed to my bedroom. I had borrowed my mum's wand and cast a sticking charm to stick him to the mattress. I told my mum when I went to bed that I couldn't stand to watch the train leave without me and asked to sleep in. This morning, I gave him a potion called iUncle John's Long Lasting Polyjuicei with one of my hairs in it. He turned into me, and I turned into him when I had a dose with his hair. I gave him a sleeping potion, and he'll sleep until after they go to bed. He'll have to wait to get unstuck until they go to check on him. Hopefully, it will be too late, and by then I'll be sorted into a house."

"What if they still make you go home?" Harry asked with worry in his voice. He was enjoying his friend and didn't want to lose "Ron." This was a friend to keep. He couldn't believe that someone went to this much trouble to meet him.

"Then I'll have to write you lots of letters. We'll have a head start on knowing each other."

About that time, the door opened, and a short, pale, thin boy stepped in the compartment. He had the most artificial smile that Harry had ever seen. Unfortunately, he remembered meeting him. Turning he said, "Ron, let me introduce you to Dragon Madfly. I met him in Diagon Alley. Dragon, this is my friend, Ron Weasley."

Draco Malfoy was struck dumb. HE, who was a pure blood wizard with a VERY important father, and lived in a mansion, was being called by such an idiotic name. This Potter didn't even seem to be aware he was calling him by the wrong name. To top it off, Draco was supposed to be making friends with him. He was about to correct his name, when Potter went on talking and he couldn't manage to get a word in edgewise.

"Madfly here, was telling me when we were getting our robes that the quality of the robes was not good. He was complaining quite a bit about them. It may just be me, but I don't really think too much about clothes. What do you think, Ron?"

"It sounds like a pretty girly thing to think about, Harry. Not my thing either." Draco was totally demoralized by now. His name of which he was very proud had been changed to a parody and he had been branded as 'girly'. Potter had made a friend and it wasn't him. He turned and fled the compartment, wondering if he could make a better impression. He didn't want to think about informing his father that he had failed his mission. Harry and Ron started laughing, and then gave each other a high five.

"By the way, if Ron is back at your home, what is your name?"

Chapter 4 – Sorting

Every once in a while, Harry would look over at "Ron" and giggle. They played games of magical and muggle variety, although 'Ron' knew more games than Harry. When the cart with snacks came around, Harry went crazy buying a wide variety. He had to go out and buy more chocolate frogs when the first ones jumped away from him. It took a while for 'Ron' to convince him that they weren't real frogs, only chocolate that had been charmed. Harry enjoyed having someone to ask questions about the world of wizards. Fred and George stopped by to check on them, and explain what was going to happen when the train got into the station. They also got Harry's and 'Ron's' trunks down so they could put their robes on over their clothes.

As they stepped onto the platform, they heard a voice loudly call, "First year students over here!" Looking over, Harry saw Hagrid, his guide from Diagon Alley. They quickly went to where he was gathering all the first year students.

"Hi ya, Harry, did you meet a friend?"

"Yeah, this is 'Ron'," said Harry with a chuckle.

Hagrid didn't understand why Harry was laughing, but said, "He must be a Weasley, right"?

"He sure is!" said Harry and now 'Ron' was also giggling. Hagrid was happy that they seemed to be happy. He hated when the kids were scared, homesick, and crying. He had had his share of those.

Everything went smoothly, and soon they were waiting to enter the Great hall and be sorted. Some of the kids were very worried. One boy thought he was going to have to fight, and a girl thought she was going to be tested on spell work. Thanks to Fred and George, Harry and 'Ron' were calmly waiting. They entered and the Sorting Hat sang his song.

The sorting began and Harry was sent into Gryffindor. Finally, Ronald Weasley was called out. The hat was placed over his head. Suddenly, 'Ron' heard a voice, "Well, well, well, I can see that you aren't Ronald Weasley. This is a very tough choice. You definitely have intelligence and would fit into Ravenclaw. You are friendly and loyal, a good fit for Hufflepuff. You have lots of courage to carry this scheme off, enough to be a Gryffindor. Being able to plan this scheme would definitely put you into Slytherin. So what house would be best for you?"

"You just have to put me in Gryffindor! The whole reason that I'm here now is to make friends with Harry Potter. You'll ruin the whole thing if you put me in a different house from Harry. I have to be in Gryffindor!

Then in a loud voice, the hat called out " GRYFFINDOR FOR GINNY WEASLEY."

The hall was in shock, except for three cheering voices, Harry, George and Fred. Professor Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall, "Who was supposed to be sorted?"

"The name on my list was Ronald Weasley."

The Sorting Hat spoke up, "I sorted Ginny Weasley into Gryffindor! She is now a Hogwarts student and is part of the Gryffindor House."

"Miss Weasley, how old are you?" which seemed weird since she still looked like Ron.

"I'm ten years old, Professor." The two professors and the Sorting Hat had a short conversation and Dumbledore announced "Miss Ginny Weasley is now a student of Hogwarts and is in the House of Gryffindor." The hall was still silent, but suddenly, 'Ron' started to shrink. A short red haired girl now stood where, just a minute before, Ron had. Her robes were dragging on the ground and sleeves eating up her hands.

"If I might help you, Miss Weasley? Professor McGonagall waved her wand and shortened her robe. "You may go and sit with your new house." Ginny ran over to cheers from all the houses and hugged Harry, George, and Fred.

Percy came over, "Ginny what in the world are you doing here? You belong at home with Mother and Father. I will have to tell them immediately."

"I think that is up to the professors, Percy," Ginny countered.

The rest of the feast went on and everyone but Percy seemed to have a good time. All the other Gryffindors wanted to ask how Ginny came and what happened to Ron. When the feast ended, all the students went to their dorm. Harry and Ginny were amazed at the castle. They promised each other to spend time exploring it in the near future. They were exhausted. It had been a very eventful day. Harry and Ginny parted at the bottom of the stairway to the girls' dorm.

"Only one more hurdle to jump. What do you think your parents will do, Ginny?"

"I'm hoping it is out of their hands, but I'll probably be in trouble. I can take the punishment. It's worth it to be your friend, Harry."

"I have one thing to say, you are much prettier than 'Ron'. Thank you for changing places and being my friend!"

THE NEXT MORNING

At breakfast the next morning, the doors were suddenly opened and Ginny's parents and a boy that all the Gryffindors knew was the real Ronald Weasley entered the hall and approached the head table.

After a brief conversation that most of the students couldn't hear, in a louder, more empathic voice "She has already been sorted and must now attend Hogwarts. She is a Gryffindor." Then Dumbledore announced that Ronald Weasley was there now and would be sorted into his house. Ron had been looking around, and when he saw his sister sitting next to Harry Potter, he got red in the face and looked ready to kill her. Ron was still glaring at Ginny when the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.

"You seem to be very angry, that leaves out Hufflepuff. You aren't interested in studying; you are more interested in games, so that leaves out Ravenclaw. You are plotting how to get your parents to punish your sister, so the best house for you is …

SLYTHERIN!"


	2. Chapter 2 My Sister Stinks

The Polyjuice Plot

By

DoublePea

Disclaimer: I've tapped my computer with my wand [also known as a pencil] and no map with tiny little footprints has appeared. So it is safe to say that I am not J. K. Rowling. I am doing this for pleasure only, no money is involved, darn it.

Chapter 2 My Sister Stinks

"Bloody sister, I hope she pays for what she did to me!" Ron muttered to himself as he walked with his parents towards Hogwarts. Actually, he had been muttering since he woke up stuck to the bed. He nearly had a heart attack when he discovered a part of him was missing. Fortunately for Ron, he soon realized that other things were different. The long red hair was very annoying. It kept getting in his mouth. Finally he realized that the length and the color were more like Ginny than him. It helped when he remembered the Polyjuice.

By the time his mother came to check on him, the potion had worn off and he was back to being Ron again. "Ron, what are you doing here? Where is Ginny?" His mum frantically asked.

"How would I know? I'm the one she stuck to this bed. I'm the one who you should be worried about."

Molly Weasley ran out the door yelling for her husband as she went. "Mum, could you please unstick me? Wouldn't you know, she is more interested in poor little Ginny than me, the victim."

In a minute, his parents entered the bedroom asking, "Ron, what is wrong?"

"Wrong? Wrong? I have a sucky sister who changed me into looking like her and then she gave me a potion to make me sleep and evidently stuck me to the bed, because I can't get up! That's what's wrong! Please unstick me, so I can find Ginny and kill her!"

Arthur Weasley reached for his wand and soon had Ron free of confinement. Before they could say anything, Ron jumped up and ran out of the room. When they heard the bathroom door close, they understood his problem. After a few minutes, he returned. "Now let's talk about what you are going to do."

"We need to take you to Hogwarts, so you can be sorted and start school," answered his father.

"No, what are you going to do to Ginny?" demanded Ron.

"Son, that is for your mother and I to decide. Get ready to go to Hogwart's and come down to breakfast. You must be hungry by now."

Anytime Ron had a choice of what to do, food always came in number one. So, Ron rushed through getting clean and dressed and shortly was eating as if he had been stuck to the mattress for a week. When he had eaten all the food he possibly could, he stood up and they all flooed to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Walking to the castle, Ron continued complaining about his sister.

"My sister really stinks!"

All heads in the Great Hall rose up from their breakfast to watch the trio walk over to the head table. Most of the Gryffindors recognized Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and everyone had seen 'Ron' last night. The twins, George and Fred, were interested in seeing what was going to happen. They were wondering if they were going to manage to avoid any blame. Percy was relieved that his parents had arrived and could now handle the problem in person. Ginny was slightly nervous, and Harry was on the defensive, ready to protect and defend Ginny against all.

As they reached the head table, Ron looked around. When he saw Ginny sitting next to Harry, he turned very red in the face and looked angry enough to kill.

"Professor Dumbledore, our daughter came in place of her brother, Ron, without our knowledge. We need to take her back home, and Ron needs to be sorted," said Arthur Weasley.

"We can certainly sort Mr. Weasley into his house now, but Miss Weasley will have to stay here, because she was sorted last night."

"Professor Dumbledore, Ginny is only ten years old. She is not old enough to attend Hogwarts," explained Mrs. Weasley.

"We found that out last night after she had been sorted. I'm afraid her age doesn't matter since she was sorted, she must stay."

Dumbledore's phoenix was asked to bring the Sorting Hat, and soon it was placed on Ron's head.

"You seem to be very angry, that leaves out Hufflepuff. You aren't interested in studying. You are more interested in games, so that leaves out Ravenclaw. You are plotting how to get your parents to punish your sister, so the best house for you is…

SLYTHERIN!"

Everyone's mouth dropped open, even Dumbledore seemed astonished. Ron turned to him in shock, "I can't be in Slytherin, all my family have been in Gryffindor! I can't be a Slytherin." All the Slytherins and Professor Snape could be seen nodding their heads in agreement.

"I'm sorry, but the Sorting Hat has spoken. I think that you will find the Slytherin House is full of fine people. Please give it a chance. Please join your house. "

Ron walked off looking like a prisoner on his way to an execution. Slowly the students returned to their food.

"Arthur and Molly, would you like to join us for breakfast? We need to talk afterwards."

Slowly the students returned to their food.

Draco Malfoy, sitting at the Slytherin table, paused to think how this might work to his benefit. This Weasley seemed to be very angry with his sister who was Harry Potter's new best friend. Potter could have more than one friend. Wheels started to turn in Draco's head as he continued to eat.

After breakfast, Professor Dumbledore led Arthur and Molly Weasley out of the Great Hall. Stopping at the Gryffindor table, "Miss Weasley, will you please join us?" asked Dumbledore. They continued to the Headmaster's office.

The minute they reached Dumbledore's office, Molly Weasley turned on her daughter and hugged her. " I was so scared when I didn't know where you were." With the pleasantries out of the way, her voice rose several notches in volume. "What in the world were you thinking when you drugged your brother and came to Hogwarts in his place? Why would you do that?"

Facing her mother bravely, she answered calmly. "If I hadn't come, Harry would have made friends and next year I wouldn't have had a chance to get to know him. Ron said so. The only option that I had was to come this year. I knew that if I had asked you, you would have said no."

The three adults just stared at her. Put that way, it did make some kind of sense. Molly and Arthur remembered the scene at the breakfast table when they were looking at the newspaper account of Harry's visit to Diagon Alley. Molly looked at Arthur and gave a little nod, which meant that he should handle this situation.

"Ginny, we understand why you came, but it doesn't change the problem that you kept your brother from coming to school when it was his turn. We also understand that in a small way he started it by making you think that you would miss out knowing Harry Potter. You will have to be punished." Ginny nodded, knowing that there was no way she was getting off without a punishment. It was well worth it. "First, since we weren't prepared to send you this year, you will have to make do with hand me down books and the clothes you already own. When you come home for Christmas vacation, you will have extra chores and have to go to bed every night after dinner, except for Christmas Day." Ginny nodded.

Arthur looked at Dumbledore and he took over the punishments. "Ginny, you did come early to Hogwarts. That was the only thing that you did wrong here, but we can't have everyone coming when they feel like it. You will spend this week in detention with your head of house Professor McGonagall, starting tonight after dinner. You have chosen to start school early. We will still expect good grades from you. This should be the last time that I have to talk to you about your behavior. Ron's trunk will have been taken to his room by the house elves. Molly and Arthur, if you can send Ginny's things today, she'll be ready for classes. Fortunately, they start tomorrow.'

As they were leaving, Dumbledore asked "Please talk to Ron about what we have done. Try to calm him down about what's happened." The Weasleys walked Ginny to the Gryffindor dorm. They wanted to talk to Percy, Fred and George while they were in the building.

"Ginny, do you know the password?" asked her father when they reached the portrait guarding Gryffindor House.

"Yes, they told us last night that the password is 'Gryffindors rule'. The portrait opened and they entered. Once inside, they found the common room was full of students hoping to find out what had happened to Ginny. Some were looking for gossip, and others were really interested. Showing that much courage at age 10 was definitely a Gryffindor trait. Several people jumped up and ran to the Weasleys.

Percy was the first to arrive, since he had the longest legs and had been waiting near the door. "Mother and Father, I want you to know that I knew nothing about Ginny coming to school rather than Ron. I had no idea what to do last night when we all found out what Ginny did."

"Percy, we know that it had nothing to do with you, and you were not responsible for handling the situation last night," responded his father. With that cleared up, Percy turned and went back to reading his textbook.

George, Fred, and Harry approached. Harry looked at Ginny's parents. He pleaded, "I hope you let Ginny stay in school and don't punish her too badly." He glanced at Ginny who was giving him thumbs up.

"She is staying, because she has already been sorted," said Mrs. Weasley. "Arthur, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Ginny's father, Arthur Weasley."

"I'm happy to meet you, Mr. Weasley. I'm glad my new friend, Ginny, gets to stay this year."

"I'm happy that you've made a new friend this quickly. If we can do anything to help you, please tell Ginny and she'll send us a note."

"Goodbye Ginny and Harry. Please study hard in addition to having fun. Ginny, you have to prove to the teachers that coming a year early is not a handicap. Put studying first, then if you have time left, you can have fun."

Mrs. Weasley dragged the twins to a deserted part of the room. They looked at each other and waited for the questions to start. They were extremely shocked when their mother said, "Would you two watch Ginny and Harry this year? If they need any help, please help them if you can or ask one of the professors to help them.

"Sure, Mom we would have kept an eye on Ginny anyway. Did you ask Percy for the same thing?"

"No, he is more worried about people breaking rules rather than giving them help. I think that with him being a prefect, it would be better for him to work with other students instead of his brothers and sister." Giving them a hug, Arthur and Molly went out the exit. George and Fred gave each other a look followed by a high five.

"Can you believe it, she didn't even ask if we helped Ginny change places with Ron."

The Weasleys silently walked down to the dungeons. Since they had both been in Gryffindor, never of them knew exactly where the Slytherin house was located. So they went to the potions laboratory, asking Professor Snape, "We need to talk with our son."

"Wait here and I'll get him for you," replied Snape barely polite.

In a few moments, Ron entered the room, "Did you yank her out of school? Did you punish her? How bad did you hurt her?"

"Ronald, Professor Dumbledore already told you that Ginny had to stay since she had already been sorted. Ginny has detention for coming to school early and she will be using hand me downs for her school equipment. She will also be punished and under restrictions during Christmas vacation at home.

Ron turned very red in the face and his hands had become tight fists as he yelled, "Restrictions? Detention? How about spanking? How about thumbscrews? How about pain?"

"Ronald, that is enough. We told you this morning that we would handle her punishment. We have punished her. That is sufficient! She didn't do this to hurt you. She simply wanted to meet Harry Potter and try to become his friend."

"You're letting her get away with what she did to me."

"You started this by telling her that she wouldn't have a chance to become Harry Potter's friend if she waited until next year to come to Hogwarts."

"Well," explained Ron, "she's a girl. Harry Potter is a boy and needs friends who are boys. She doesn't know what to do with boy!"

Mrs. Weasley looked at Ron disgustedly, "Being the youngest with six older brothers and no other girls in the family, Ginny knows more about boys than girls."

"Ron," interjected Mr. Weasley before Molly got mad with Ron's attitude, "we are taking care of Ginny. You need to let it go. You have a big job ahead of you. It's your first year here and you need to study and learn as much as you can. Write us and let us know how you are doing. We love you," he said as they hugged him and walked away to return home.

"Let it go? Fat chance. She's going to pay. Pay big time. She'll be sorry that she ever messed with me."

Author's Note: This is an alternate universe story. I am assuming that you have read the original J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the (fill in the book). Therefore events may be skipped on that happened in the book or completely new events will happen.


	3. Chapter 3 Ron Strikes Back

The Polyjuice Plot

By DoublePea

Authors Note: Thanks to my beta, Ministry Malcontent for checking Chapters 2 and 3. My apology to Ron Weasley for throwing you under the bus.

Chapter 3 Ron Strikes Back

That afternoon, the first year students from each house were introduced to the school. The prefects spoke about classes and school life. Especially about the rules that they would be expected to follow. With the preliminaries out of the way, the groups set out to explore the school. It was a big school with a lot of staircases. Ginny was tired. Being the shortest wasn't easy. Harry was happy to linger behind with Ginny. He was the shortest of the boys and all the stair climbing was taking a toll on him. "Harry, pull me, please, I'm really tired."

They were in a dark and narrow corridor when they passed the Slytherin House. Ron was at the back of the Slytherins, and when they passed, he pointed his wand at Harry and Ginny.

"Cohereo." Their hands felt weird, like they were stuck together. Ron again waved his wand, "Commuto pingo incarnatus."

Before the spell could hit them, Harry threw himself in front of Ginny. Suddenly, Harry was completely pink, from the top of his head to his feet. Harry turned around and glared at Ron. Ron had never thought that anything pink could look menacing, but Harry Potter looked really dangerous. "We were going to leave you alone Weasley, but this means WAR!"

The groups had stopped when they heard all the commotion, but the prefects were in the front and couldn't see what happened.

Suddenly a different voice came from the Slytherin group. "Prefect, Weasley sent a spell at Harry Potter and Weasley's sister.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," several prefects said in unison. "Detention tonight Mr. Weasley with Professor Snape," said the prefect in charge of the Slytherins.

The prefects were able to separate Harry and Ginny. With Harry back to his original coloration, the tour continued. "Ginny, why did he use the color pink?"

"It's the color that I dislike the most. My brothers always used pink for pranks on me. Thanks for taking that spell for me, but what if it had been something that hurt?"

Looking her in the eyes, Harry seriously responded, "I've always wanted friends and I'm not going to let anything happen to them. Since you are my first friend, I'm going to make sure that you're protected. Ginny smiled back at him, but her mind was spinning with plans for Ron.

When they arrived back at the Common Room, Ginny led Harry over to Fred and George. "Guys, Ron has launched a war on Harry and I. It was unprovoked, if you don't count yesterday's prank. He stuck Harry and I together, then he sent a spell at me to turn me pink, but at the last moment Harry stood in front of me. Instead of me turning pink, it was Harry. Please help us. We don't know enough spells to protect ourselves." Ginny figured that even though Ron was also only a first year, there was no reason they couldn't get an edge on him. They spent some time laying out plans for the 'Ron Prank War'.

Harry had been wondering about something that happened. "Why did Madfly squeal on Ron?"

The twins were laughing so hard that they could barely talk. "Not Madfly, his name is Malfoy. The Malfoy family is very proud of their name."

"That doesn't matter to me, why did he turn Ron in?"

"Did Malfoy talk to you in the train? What did he say?"

"Yeah, he came in. Although he was real annoying, he didn't say anything nasty, did he Ginny?"

"I think he was trying to get on your good side, Harry," replied Ginny.

The twins thought a minute; "It's pretty odd that a Slytherin would tell tales on another Slytherin. I guess Malfoy doesn't think that Ron counts."

After dinner that night, Professor McGonagall handed Ginny a note, "Don't forget you have detention at seven tonight." When Ginny opened the note, it read "Please invite Mr. Potter to come with you tonight."

After they entered the Common Room, Ginny handed Harry the note. "Why am I being invited to your detention?" mused Harry.

"I don't have a clue Harry. Do you want to come?"

Harry looked at Ginny, "I think that this is a royal invitation. I'd better show up." So they picked up their book bags with parchment, quills, ink, and their transfiguration books just in case.

They searched Professor McGonagall's face for clues as to how much trouble they were in, as soon as they entered her office. Not good, not good at all.

"Miss Weasley, I don't want you to get the impression that what you did has been forgotten or ignored. Most of the punishment needs to come from your parents. Professor Dumbledore has given you one week of detention. I am assigning you an essay, 3 feet long on what you did and why it was wrong. This will be due on the last night of detention. I'm sure Mr. Potter, that you are wondering why you were invited to join Miss Weasley for her detention." Harry nodded his head in agreement. "Ginny is the youngest student in the school. Harry with your birthday in late July, you are the next youngest student in Gryffindor. As your Head of House, I would like to start you on the road to academic success; learning how to take class notes, study, and how to excel in your school work."

Several hours later, Professor McGonagall said, "That will be all for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll look at the classes you had and examine the notes you took and talk about your assignments. You'll have time to work on them. Do you wish to continue coming this week, Harry?

"I think that it will be very helpful. Thank you so much for helping us."

Next morning at breakfast, they were given their class schedules. "How can they do this to us? said Ginny. "Double Potions first thing this morning with the Slytherins. Do you think Ron will have calmed down?"

"Well Ginny, if the nasty looks he is giving us are an indicator, we better buy funeral plots." When everyone starting leaving the Great Hall, they joined the first year Gryffindors in walking to the Potions Classroom.

They had expected that Snape would be impossible to them and the Gryffindors. It was with pleasure to find that Snape couldn't stand Ronald Weasley. They were even enjoying making their first potion. They were comparing the directions in the book with the black board and missed the small plop in their cauldron.

No one missed Draco Malfoy speaking out, "Professor Snape, Weasley throw something in his sister and Mr. Potter's cauldron." Snape immediately cleared the infected cauldron.

"Detention tonight, with me, Mr. Weasley."

"I'm sorry sir, but I already have detention with you for two nights."

"Then just fill in your calendar for three nights starting tonight."

As Harry and Ginny were leaving the room, they ran into Draco Malfoy. "Thank you Draco for keeping us from a potions accident."

"You're welcome Harry," said Draco. He thought finally something is going right for me. Father will be so pleased. I better send him a note.

That experience seemed to make an impression on Ron.

He learned that attacks in the classrooms resulted in numerous detentions. Things got ugly in the hallways very fast. The Slytherins liked it because; Ron was hardly ever in the Common Room. Harry and Ginny decided to let Ron take the first shot, so they could always say that they were only defending themselves. It minimized the amount of time they spent in detention.

Harry and Ginny had picked up a lot of spells faster than they normally would have. Many older Gryffindors were tutoring them on helpful defensive spells, but dodging was their primary tool of defense. They were walking to Charms class when Harry noticed a spell coming in their direction. Dodging out of the way, the spell hit Lavender and Pavarti who were walking behind Harry. The girls were thrown against the wall. They stood up, spread their hands and Lavender screamed, "He chipped our nail polish!" With a gleam of vengeance in their eyes, they took off after a fast departing Ron. They started off with a Jelly Legs Jinx and a Trip Jinx until Ron tripped, then shot Stinging Hexes at him. Soon, only the sounds of "combat" could be heard in the distance.

"Maybe we should give them nail polish for a Christmas present to make up for this incident," suggested Ginny.

"I intend to stay away from them. I had no idea they could be that scary," answered Harry. "I hope Ron can outrun them."

Every time Ron hit a bystander, they wanted to join in retaliation. Soon, quite a few people were helping Harry and Ginny learn new hexes. They had people! Ron had zip.

Mr. Filch was the only staff member to be involved in the hall war. He was rushing in to give detentions, and was nailed rather badly. There was a fifteen-minute celebration by the students when they heard the news. When he was found, he resembled a decorated Christmas tree more than a caretaker. No one ever found out what happened to Mrs. Norris, his cat; some thought that she went feral in the halls, while others thought she had become one of the castle ghosts.

Harry was waiting one morning in the Common Room for Ginny to come down. He noticed a newspaper on a nearby table. The pictures were moving. When he picked it up to take a closer look, he was totally shocked to see himself. He looked them over and recognized his trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid.

"Harry, what are you looking at?" questioned Ginny.

"This is the craziest thing. Someone photographed my trip to Diagon Alley and put it in the newspaper. Didn't they have something better to put in the paper?"

"Harry, you are considered big news in the Wizard world. People have been waiting for you to return to our world for years."

"Ginny, I don't want to be famous. I don't want to have people watching me buy a cauldron."

They hadn't noticed the twins walking over. "You might as well take advantage Harry," said George.

"Charge 1 Sickle to look at your cauldron," said Fred.

"And 2 Sickles to touch your cauldron," continued George.

"If that works, there is no telling how much they'll pay to touch your…." Ginny put her hand over Fred's mouth.

"Don't make me write Mum!"

"No way with all the fuss Ron is still making. Never tickle a sleeping dragon or a mother with red hair!" Fred said with George's agreement.

They all walked down to breakfast with their book bags ready for class. Harry and Ginny had made several friends in the short time since they had arrived. Harry tried to start up a conversation with a quiet boy in their year, Neville. With both Harry and Neville being reserved, it was going to take some time to get to the friendship stage with him. They had tried to talk to a girl with bushy hair, but she was always reading a book.

Breakfast was over and they were getting ready to go to class, when Ron passed by. He pointed his wand at Ginny, "Cohereo".

He ran off with a crowd of people following him or should I say "Ron's Followers." The twins unstuck Ginny, and then they all raced after Ron. When they caught up, they found Ron had been pushed against the wall by the wands of the Nail Polish Avengers aka Lavender and Parvati. Ron looked very frightened. He was receiving a lecture on the importance of protecting girls nail polish and their manicures.

"We'll take over from here," said the twins. "Petrificis Totalus" and Ron was now stiff as a board. "Wingardium Leviosa" and Fred floated Ron in a nearby room. It happened to be a bathroom, so George suggested they sit Ron down. George pointed his wand at Ron, "Adhaereo. Now, notice that Ginny had nothing to do with this. You played a role in a prank so Ginny could come to Hogwarts this year and meet Harry Potter."

Fred carried on, " She wasn't trying to hurt you. You were helpless and she could have done anything to you. She didn't do anything except what she had to so she could come here."

"Let it go, Ron. You are acting like Percy, thinking that you know what is right. You are only causing yourself grief. You aren't making friends and you're very close to having a chat with the headmaster and our parents. You're making us look good. Shame on you. What kind of brother are you?" With that said, Fred and George left the room.

"I've never really gotten a chance to meet you," Harry told him looking straight into his eyes. "All you could do was attack us and run. I'm not interested in fighting a war. I want to make friends. I like Ginny because she is smart, happy, interesting and fun. If you are anything like her, I would like to get to know you. If you want to continue this conflict, I don't think that the dungeons are far enough for you to hide."

"This is ridiculous, Ron," said Ginny pointing her wand at him. We are leaving you here, not to be cruel, but to give you time to think. Grow up and be the big brother that I know you can be."

They left and shut the door. It was very quiet and lonely. This was not how he had pictured his first year at Hogwarts. His mouth dropped open, his eyes took on an impression of horror as a ghost floated through the wall.

She smiled, "Hi, my name's Myrtle. You're cute, do you have a girlfriend?"


	4. Chapter 4 Trick or Troll

The Polyjuice Plot

By DoublePea

Chapter 4 Trick or Troll

Author's Notes: This story has been vastly improved by my beta, MinistryMalcontent. We all thank you.

It was late October and life at Hogwarts had finally settled down. Ron seemed a little shaken by his "Myrtle's Bathroom" experience. He was very quiet after the twins released him. Of course, the good thing was that he was the only first year with a girlfriend, or should it be a ghost friend.

The hallways were almost back to normal. Although the Weasleys weren't attacking each other, some of the students that Ron had accidentally hit were still gunning for him. Professor McGonagall found Ron stuck to the wall with his fingernails painted red and gold. Afterwards she had to chuckle, it was so obvious who was responsible. He had gotten several more detentions from Professor Snape for hexes that showed up on his robes. His hair had been turned pink so often, that he almost expected to see it that way when he looked in the mirror.

The first year students were very excited to have their broom lesson. Ginny had been telling Harry all about flying. When they were told to command their broom to rise, Harry was shocked to feel his broom immediately fly into his hand. Looking over at Ginny, he saw she had a huge grin on her face. Harry couldn't wait to get into the air.

"Kick off gently," the flying teacher, Madam Hooch, ordered.

Draco Malfoy, trying to impress Harry, kicked off too hard and nearly fell off his broom as he soared rapidly. He finally managed to control it, but was so embarrassed that his face was bright red. The rest of the lesson went smoother. Harry and Ginny helped Neville Longbottom, one of their friends, kick off gently. They talked him through the lesson. Neville had become one of Harry and Ginny's first friends. He needed friends just as much as they did. Helping other people had been good for Harry. The bushy haired Gryffindor was reading a book, and didn't put it down until Madam Hooch yelled at her. Harry saw that the title was "A Muggle's Guide to Flying." As if reading a book would help learn how to fly.

The end of October brought the annual Halloween feast. Ginny looked around at the pumpkins decorating the Great Hall. It was times like this that Ginny wondered if she was merely having a great dream or could it possibly be real. She had so many friends now. The older Gryffindors had adopted her as a little sister. Percy – her real brother – was the only one who insisted on treating her like a stranger. He said Prefects could not show favoritism. She and Harry had made it their mission to meet someone new each week. While she was contentedly gazing around, Harry sat quietly wishing that Halloween was over. It didn't have any good connotations for him.

Their defense teacher suddenly entered the room. "Troll-- in the dungeon-- thought you ought to know," he said, promptly passing out. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 172)

Looking over at the Slytherin table, Harry and Ginny saw that Ron was missing. They looked at each other and said, "Ron!" In the meantime instructions were issued for students to follow their prefects to their house common rooms.

"Fred, George, Ron's not here." Ginny called out. They found a place to slip away from the Gryffindors. "Anyone have any idea where Ron could be?"

George answered, "He could be in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. When we reversed his spell, Myrtle got him to promise that he would come back to see her."

They quickly made their way to her bathroom. Ron was talking to Myrtle when they entered. "What are all of you doing here?" Ron asked them.

Fred explained, "Ron, Professor Quirrell just ran into the Great Hall and told us that there was a troll in the Dungeons. We looked around and when we didn't see you, we were worried. Now that we have found you, we need to get to a safe place." They went out just in time to catch sight of the troll. "Guess it's too late for that option."

Harry looked around and noticed a closet on the opposite side of the corridor. Opening up the door, he saw a large broom. "We could take a chance and hide in the bathroom and hope that he would not be able to find us, or we could set up a trap and try to take him out. Any other ideas?"

The twins looked at each other, "We want to hear about the trap." Ron and Ginny agreed. Confronting the troll was definitely a Gryffindorish thing to do, but tricking the troll was a Slytherin thing.

The sounds of the troll approaching were getting louder. "We'll lay the broom on the floor between the bathroom and the broom closet. I thought that one of the twins and Ron could get in the broom closet and the other twin and Ginny would hide in the bathroom. I'll go back and get the troll's attention, and then I'll run down the hall so it will chase me. When I get past you, lift the broom up to his knee level and trip him. Then we can hit him on the head."

"Harry, why do you have to be the one to run as bait? Why not me?" asked Ginny.

Harry answered her; "I couldn't stand it if anything happened to one of my friends! Quick, we're running out of time."

"Sounds good to us, except for getting in the broom closet with Ron." said the twins in unison. Ron wasn't looking forward to it either, but he didn't think Harry would agree to Ginny being in the broom closet. They laid the broom down and took their positions, being ready for action. Harry went to the point he could see the 12 foot gray haired beast. Seeing it was bad enough, but he wished that he couldn't smell it. It was awful! "Hey, Stinky!" he yelled. It didn't take much to get his attention and soon Harry was running down the hall.

Just before Harry reached the bathroom/broom closet he called, "I'm almost there guys." Harry jumped over the broom and went down the stairs. The teams picked up the ends of the broom, and just as planned, the troll tripped and fell down the stairs. Unfortunately, his arms were out stretched catching Harry on the back, knocking him down.

"Harry!" yelled Ginny ready to run down and check on Harry. The twins held her back, "Ginny, wait until we check on the troll. We need to make sure that the troll is not going to cause any more trouble. We don't want you to get hurt, too." It didn't take more than a quick look to find that he wasn't going to be going anywhere else, ever. "Okay, Ginny, you can check on Harry."

Ginny ran down the stairs, "Harry, Harry, are you all right?" When she reached him, she saw he had fallen on the stairs and there was some blood on his head where he had hit it. The twins picked Harry up and they all started off for the hospital wing. When they arrived there, they found the nurse waiting.

"What happened?" She asked.

"He got hit by the troll's hand and fell on the stairs." Ginny answered.

About that time, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape entered the room. "What are you all doing here? You should be in your common room, that will be fifty points each for not following directions, " demanded Professor Snape. The Weasleys looked at each other wondering why Snape should be taking points from them while the headmaster was in the room.

"Now, now, let's give them a chance to explain what happened," asked Professor Dumbledore. Mr. Fred Weasley, is you would please favor us with an explanation, please."

Fred plunged in, "Did you know that there are brooms in the broom closets?" At Professor McGonagall's hard stare, he decided to go straight to the explanation. "When Professor Quirrell told everyone that there was a troll in the dungeons, we looked around and saw that Ron was missing. We couldn't just ignore that our brother might be in trouble. We found him and were going to go somewhere safe, but the troll was almost upon us. Harry volunteered to be a decoy, well; really he insisted that it should be him. The troll was chasing him, and we tripped it with a broom from the broom closet. I still am surprised that there are actually brooms in the broom closets. At the last minute, the troll spread out his arms and hit Harry as he fell. We brought him in here as fast as we could."

"How is Mr. Potter, Poppy?" Asked Dumbledore.

Looking up from running some diagnostic spells, she said, "I can mend the abrasion on his head easily enough, but he has a concussion. He'll have to stay here for at least a day."

"Thank you. Now we need to know where the troll is and is it still dangerous?"

"Professor, it is by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and it's only smelly not dangerous anymore," replied George.

"Thank you, now you can return to your common rooms I'll go to Mr. Potter's aunt and uncle tomorrow and inform them of his injury."

Ginny stopped as she passed Professor Dumbledore, "I need to speak to you. Can we go some place private?" They went into a nearby treatment room. "Harry told me that his aunt and uncle didn't care for him and wished that he had died with his parents. At mealtime, he seems surprised that he can eat as much as he wants. There also seems to be a lot of food that he never has eaten before. One day he told me that he had never had a banana that wasn't mostly black. I think that there is something wrong at his house."

"Surely, that is just an exaggeration, Miss Weasley. His aunt and uncle must really care for him."

"Why do you think they care for him?" Ginny asked urgently. "Have you ever taken a good look at him? Harry has no clothes that fit. He is too thin. If his family took good care of him, why would he never have had a friend before he came here? Please, please, insist on taking a good look around. Harry has had to live most of his life with people that hate him. He deserves to live with people that want the best for him."

"All right Miss Weasley, I'll carefully examine all the evidence that I can see when I speak with his aunt and uncle."

The next morning, Professor Dumbledore appeared at Number 4 Privet Drive in Surrey. When the door opened, Mrs. Dursley grabbed him by his elbow and pulled him inside. She quickly shut the door and turned to accuse him, "What are you doing here?"

This was the first time that Dumbledore could remember having such a bad reception. "I'm here to inform you about an accident that involved Harry."

"Is he dead?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

"No, he was attacked by a troll. He has a concussion, and I thought you might like to visit him."

"Why in the world would I want to see that freak for? We just got rid of him and you should just keep him. We don't want him back here!"

Professor Dumbledore had a sudden feeling that Miss Weasley was on to something. He also objected to the word 'freak'. After all, he was one of those 'freaks'. "Surely you're distraught. He is your nephew, your sister's child."

By now, Dumbledore had noticed that Harry wasn't in any of the pictures that covered the living room. Ginny's impassioned words were ringing in his ears. He had set wards to protect Harry from outside attack, but he hadn't considered what was happening inside. He had assumed that they would take care of Harry because they were related. He had indeed made a cardinal mistake. Instead of being correct, he had made an assumption. Thus making an ass out of you and me, well, mostly of Albus. Albus Dumbledore wasn't used to making mistakes, but this appeared to be a really big one.

"My sister was a freak and got herself killed," exclaimed Petunia Dursley. "Why did we have to take her freak son? It isn't fair. We didn't ever want him."

"I must say Mrs. Dursley that you don't deserve to have such a fine boy living with you. I think that Lilly would be very disappointed in your behavior. I'll bring the transfer of child custody papers over for you to sign. Are there any of Harry's belongings here that I should take to him?"

Mrs. Dursley opened a cabinet under the stairs and pulled out an old worn out blanket. "Here is the blanket that came with him. He doesn't have anything else."

Dumbledore went away very sad. He would have to think over very carefully what to do with Harry Potter now.


	5. Chapter 5 To Be or Not To Be Friends

The Polyjuice Plot

Author's Note: I want to thank Ministry Malcontent for his excellent job as beta for this story. He has great ideas and advice.

Chapter 5 - To Be or Not To Be – Friends

The Hogwarts Weasleys gathered to have a meeting about Harry. That is to say, the twins, Ron, and Ginny gathered. Percy excused himself saying that he needed to study. George started the meeting by asking, "Ron, how do you feel about Harry? Do you think that you could get along with him without fighting?"

"Harry was right when he said that we really didn't know each other. I have to say that he is a brave person, after the way he insisted on being a decoy to take care of the troll. I'd like to have time to get to know him. I promise that I won't fight Harry anymore. I've made my entrance here a disaster. Everyone hates me. I was a big prat."

"Ron," Ginny spoke with sincerity, "I'm sorry that I polyjuiced you and stuck you to the bed. I never thought about what it would do to you. I was only thinking that I had to get to Hogwarts to meet Harry. I apologize for ruining your start of school." She hugged Ron as they both felt relief to have made up.

"Okay, with that touchy feely moment out of the way," said Fred

"How about having Harry come," continued George

"To the Burrow for Christmas break?" finished Fred

"Yes," yelled Ginny.

"Good idea," said Ron with enthusiasm.

Fred suggested, "If George or I ask for Harry to come for a visit, Mum and Dad will be looking for a trick or something. They are still unhappy with Ginny and she has punishments for the Christmas break. Would you mind writing them, Ron, and asking if Harry can come for a visit at the break? He doesn't have anyplace else to go, so we think that it should be easy to talk Mum into it."

"I'll write a letter and show it to you before we owl it home?" said Ron.

So that's what they did.

The next morning Ginny was sitting at Harry's bedside. She was hoping that he would wake up soon. She was looking very closely at him, when she saw his eyes open just a little bit. "Hi, Harry, how are you feeling?"

"Ginny, how is everyone? Did anyone get hurt?" asked Harry in a small voice.

Ginny looked at him unbelievably, "You're the one in the hospital bed, and you ask 'how is everyone'? We're okay, as you were the only one hurt. How are you, Harry?"

"I'm fine," said Harry. Ginny snorted and just looked at him. "Okay, my head hurts. How long do I need to stay here?"

"Let me call Nurse Pomfrey and ask her." She went to the Nurse's office, "Harry is awake now."

The nurse came over to Harry and ran some tests. "He needs to stay today and he can leave tomorrow morning, if he improves enough. Here is a Pain Potion and a Sleeping Potion for you. They will help you recover."

Grimacing as he drank the Pain Potion, he said, "Thank you. I guess you might as well go to breakfast Ginny."

"If you would like, Miss Weasley can stay and eat breakfast with you. Afterwards you can take your Sleeping Potion."

Together they said, "That would be great." So the nurse called for a house elf and requested three breakfasts. She conjured up a table for Harry and Ginny. When the food was delivered, she took one tray to her office. The room was very quiet with only an occasional sound of silverware touching the plate.

"This has been very nice, Ginny. Thank you for coming." Just then the sound of the door opening had them looking up. It was Ron, followed by the twins.

"We saw that you weren't at breakfast, so we came to see how you were," said Ron.

"Nice hair Ron," said Harry.

"Is it pink again? I've gotten hit so much with hexes and jinxes that having pink hair is about the only thing that bothers me," said Ron.

"I guess then, you don't care that you have gold polka dots in your red hair then."

Ron tried to twist his head around to look at his own hair. Giving it up for a lost cause, he shrugged his shoulders.

Harry looked at the four of them around his bed and smiled, "I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would make this many friends here at Hogwarts. This is more than I've had all my life. This makes me feel so good."

"You deserve it, Harry. You are a wonderful friend. You're wrong though, you have a lot more friends than just us four. There is no limit to how many friends you can make," Ginny stated. The twins and Ron nodded in agreement. "We will leave you now so you can rest. We'll be back this evening after dinner." As they turned to leave, Harry almost fell out of bed laughing. Ron had a big target on the back of his robes.

Harry was out of the hospital the next day. As they sat in the Great Hall, an owl flew in delivering a letter to Ron. The Weasley's all recognized the owl as Errol. When Ron read the letter, he looked over at the twins and Ginny and nodded his head yes. After breakfast, he showed them the letter. Harry looked a little curious wondering what they were all talking about.

Ginny looked at him, "Harry, Ron sent a letter home asking our parents if you could come with us for Christmas break. This letter says that they would be very happy to have you visit at our home for Christmas and New Years. Would you like to come?"

Looking shocked, Harry said, "Of course, I would love to come to your home. I couldn't ask for anything better than to spend more time with you three. It would be wonderful to meet your parents, and Ron and I could get to know each other better." From that point on, the Weaseley's owl, Errol seemed to be always coming or going to the Burrow.

Time seemed to fly and before they knew it, they were on the Hogwarts Express on their way to London for Christmas break. Harry, Ginny, and Ron shared a compartment, while the twins sat with their friend, Lee Jordan. During the trip, Draco Malfoy dropped in for a visit with Harry.

"I hope you have a nice winter break from school. Have you got a lot planned?"

"Yeah, it looks like I'll be pretty busy, Draco."

"Where did you say your relatives live and what's their name?" asked Draco trying to find out an answer to one of the questions that interested his father.

Harry yawned just has he was saying 'Dursley.'

Thinking that his father would be so happy that he had found where Harry Potter lived; Draco didn't question if he had heard the name correctly. He said, "Bye, and have a great holiday" and quickly left their compartment not aware he had gotten the name wrong.


	6. Chapter 6 Holiday Detention

The Polyjuice Plot

By DoublePea

Author's Note: A very Merry Christmas to a great beta, MinistryMalcontent! I'm posting all the holiday chapters before Christmas, as a holiday gift to all! Thank you for reading my story.

Chapter 6 It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Detention

When the train arrived at Kings Cross Station, Draco rushed off the train to give his father the good news. Unfortunately, he didn't notice Harry going off with the Weasley family. "Father, I found out that Harry Potter lives with the Dirtsley family in Surrey."

"Excellent Draco, I'm very pleased with you," responded Lucious Malfoy with a smile that could freeze vegetables in 15 seconds.

Meanwhile the Weasley family and their guest walked through the train station to the taxis and went to the Leaky Cauldron. Using the floo to go the Burrow Harry became very dizzy, and he ended up on the floor of the living room. He took out Ginny who had been through just before him. Then the next two people who arrived, Fred and George fell on top of them. By the time they managed to get off the floor, every one was laughing.

"Quite an interesting entrance, Harry," said George.

Fred said, "Have you practiced much to be able to perform such a complicated maneuver?"

"This was my first time. I'm glad that I was able to entertain you. Ginny, are you all right?"

"No problem, Harry. The floor probably was one of the things I'll be polishing this week anyway." Ginny said with a big smile.

The Weasley parents took control of the situation and sorted out the luggage. They had Ron and Ginny show Harry around the house. Harry was amazed at the difference between a magical and a muggle house. Finally, they ended up in Ron's room.

"Ron, did an orange explode here? I'm not sure if I can open my eyes. Has St. Mungos determined that it is safe to look at such a strong color?"

Ginny laughed so hard, that she ended up on the floor. Ron's face got rather red. He had decorated his room in honor of his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. Their robes were orange with black lettering. Due to the team regularly ranking in the basement he was used to being the only Cannon fan in the Burrow. Harry finally stopped clowning around and set up his trunk. Then they went into Ginny's room and did the same thing for her. About that time, Mrs. Weasley called them down to dinner.

It was a simple meal, roast beef with potatoes and carrots. There were two more vegetables, and fresh rolls. It tasted great, but the best part from Harry's perspective was that he could eat as much as he wanted. He could barely move when he finished.

"We thought that we would make a shopping trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow before it gets too crowded. First, we would take Harry to Gringotts to get money. Then hopefully find everything you need in 2 or 3 hours, have lunch, and then come home," said Mrs. Weasley.

No one had a different idea, so Ginny got up to clear the table with Harry joining her. Mrs. Weasley tried to object, but Harry just explained that he was very used to cleaning and doing work in the kitchen. Very quickly, the kitchen was clean enough even for Petunia Dursley. "Ginny, as part of your detention, you need to go to your room now," Mr. Weasley spoke firmly. Ginny promptly left the kitchen, and went to her room.

"Harry, we would like to talk to you. Please stay at the table," asked Mr. Weasley. The others went into the living room. "Since we are going to the bank tomorrow, I thought that we should talk about money briefly. This is really none of my business, but you don't appear to have anyone else to help you. Do you know how you stand financially? How much money you have? If you have any other assets?"

Harry looked at him, "I have no idea how much money is in my vault. Hagrid just grabbed up a handful of money and said that it would be enough to buy my books and supplies."

"So you didn't talk with someone about your account?"

"No, I'm totally clueless. I've never had any money and I have no idea what to do with it. Would you help me?"

"If you have enough money in your account for anything extra outside of your school expenses, what do you need?"

Harry thought for a moment, "I want to buy some Christmas presents."

"That is very kind of you to think of others, but let's talk about you. It seems like you must have needs that are not currently being met. Excuse me for saying this, but I wouldn't allow my children to wear clothes that look that worn. They're not the correct size that you need."

"You mean that I could buy clothes that would fit? Wouldn't that be very expensive? Aunt Petunia always said that I was an expensive burden."

"Harry, dear," interrupted Mrs. Weasley, "I know where to buy used clothing, which would save you a lot of money. You could buy some new clothes, if you have enough money. With just a small amount of money, you could have clothes that are the right size for you."

"That would be great! I've never had clothes that fit me. I've had no choice in how I look. I would also like to have some money to help with anything I need this summer. I never have enough food to eat at my aunt and uncle's house."

"Tomorrow, we'll ask to speak with someone in charge of your account, we'll try to get you some different clothes, and some money for next summer. Run along and have some fun now." Mr. Weasley gave his wife a glance and wordlessly they agreed. Later in private they would be talking about Harry and his problems.

Harry played chess with Ron, and after about an hour said, "I'm tired with the train and all. Guess I'll go to bed, night." He went to Ron's room and got ready for bed.

Late that night, the Weasley parents had a chance to talk. "Arthur, we have to do something to help Harry. It's criminal that he doesn't get enough to eat and has to wear clothes that don't fit. What can we do?" Tears began to drip down Mrs. Weasley's cheeks.

"I think that the best thing that we can do is to help Harry right now, and talk with Dumbledore later. If we think about Harry as one of our children, then we can see things that need to be changed. Judging from what the children wrote us, Harry probably won't ask for change. He doesn't appear to think that things in his life that are wrong can be changed." They unofficially adopted Harry as one of their children.

With such an early bedtime, Harry was wide-awake at dawn. Dressing, he went downstairs to find Ginny sitting in the living room. "Morning, Ginny, how are you?"

"I'm bored, Harry. This is going to be a long two weeks."

"I've got an idea. Your parents said that you had to go to your room after dinner, right? She nodded. "Did they say anything at all about what you had to do in the morning?"

Ginny thought a second and then smiled, "You know Harry, you're right. They didn't say I had to do anything in the morning."

"Well, we'll just go to bed early every night, and then get up early and play. We just need to be quiet so we don't wake everyone up." So Ginny got out a board game and they had fun regardless of the early hour.

When it was almost time for breakfast, Harry suggested that they make it. Ginny was amazed at Harry's aptitude in the kitchen. When Mrs. Weasley came downstairs to find breakfast ready, she was flabbergasted.

"Harry, how did you learn to cook like this?" inquired Mrs. Weasley. The room was very quiet. After a taste of the food, everyone was filling their plates as if they had not been regularly fed.

"My aunt and uncle felt that I needed to contribute to make up for living with them. Aunt Petunia had me cooking, cleaning, and gardening before I started school." Harry sat down and after loading his plate with food, enjoyed eating in such a nice atmosphere.

"I don't know how your aunt could expect a young child to do so much housework. It doesn't sound like you had time to play." Mrs. Weasley's voice raised with intensity until she noticed that Harry appeared to be uncomfortable talking about his life at his uncle's home. So she dropped the subject and let the regular breakfast conversation take over. When they were all finished, Mrs. Weasley spoke, "Everyone should be ready to go in twenty minutes. When we get to Diagon Alley, Arthur will go to Gringotts with Harry. The twins will go together as will Percy and Ron; and Ginny and I."

"I would like Ginny to be with me for most of my shopping," stated Harry.

Ginny said, "We could meet up after a half hour."

"It might take longer than that, Ginny. We need to talk to a banker about Harry's account," Mr. Weasley explained.

So, they all gathered in the living room and flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. This time, they made sure that Harry didn't follow anyone too closely and they gave him plenty of time to get out of the way. Aside from Harry falling on the floor, the whole thing went smoothly.

They opened the wall to Diagon Alley. The groups separated and spread out. Entering Gringotts Bank, Harry was happy to have Mr. Weasley with him. He couldn't picture being on his own. They walked up to a Goblin manning a desk. Mr. Weasley requested, " Harry Potter would like to speak with someone regarding his account."

"Follow me," ordered the goblin.

Mr. Weasley stopped and motioned for Harry to follow the goblin. Harry was panic-stricken. He couldn't handle this alone. He didn't know what to ask. "Please come with me, Mr. Weasley?" Harry begged.

"Of course, Harry. I would be more than happy to help you. I just didn't want to stick my nose where it wasn't welcome. You were entitled to privacy in handling your banking business."

They followed the goblin through the bank's corridors until he stopped. "This is the office of Ragsbone, he is Mr. Potter's banker." They entered to find an older goblin sitting behind an ornate wooden desk. He was searching in a drawer when they entered.

He looked up and for a goblin, smiled. It was really closer to a snarl, but as goblins didn't spend much time smiling, it passed for a smile. "Welcome, Mr. Potter. My name's Ragsbone. I'm very happy to meet you. I've been waiting for years to be talking with a Potter again. Now who have you brought with you today?"

"I'm very happy to meet you, Mr. Ragsbone. This is the father of my best friend, Mr. Weasley," introduced Harry.

"Well, since you brought him in with you, I assume that it is all right if he hears our conversation." When Harry nodded, Ragsbone continued. "I heard that you were in the bank a few months ago, and wished that I had been able to meet you. I wanted to explain your accounts to you. Can we do it at this time?"

"Yes, sir, that is why we are here today. I want to find out how much money is in my vault and do I have any other assets?" Harry asked excitedly.

Ragsbone explained that he had been in charge of the Potter's account since the time of Harry's grandfather. He pulled some papers out of the drawer, and spread them out on the desk. "This chart shows an overview of the Potter family's accounts. The Potter vault has family heirlooms, valuables, and other assets. I'll give you a detailed list of those assets. You have a stock portfolio that has grown considerably in the years since your parents' death. You already know about your school vault. However, you may not be aware that since you are the only member of your family remaining, the vault was set up to be refilled after your second, fourth, and sixth year at Hogwarts. Your parents felt that you might have greater expenses if you were on your own, than if you were living with them."

Harry looked shocked. "Is this as much as I think it is? Is this really a lot of money? Does this mean I have enough to buy some clothes?" asked Harry.

"Not only clothes, but other necessities. You have money available, but you don't want to get into the habit of wasting your money. Someday in the future you may need it to support a wife and children, so you don't want to spend it all now. I suggest you work out a budget to guide how you spend your money. Perhaps, Mr. Weasley would be willing to help you set one up. You will have full access to the Potter vault on your seventeenth birthday. Would you like to make a visit to your student vault now?"

"Yes," answered Harry. He and Mr. Weasley got up and followed Ragsbone to the carts. They were soon at this vault. When it was open, Harry and Mr. Weasley walked in and Harry looked around. "I still don't know how much to take."

"Looking at the list of assets and the amount in your vault, you could take out 100 Galleons. It should be enough for presents, clothes and have some extra left over for any expenses that might come up," answered Mr. Weasley. Harry grabbed a bunch of Galleons and put them in a bag that Mr. Weasley handed him. They returned to the cart and were soon walking out of the bank.

Outside they bank Mr. Weasley headed to a store with a handmade sign in the window, "Born Again, Robes and Clothing at Reasonable Prices." Inside the store Harry could see Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.

"Harry, did everything go all right at the bank? We've been looking through the clothes, and I think we have found some neat clothes. How about this shirt?" Ginny asked holding up a bright orange shirt with "There is nothing wrong with being at the bottom. Chudley Cannons, 1980" written on it.

Harry's mouth dropped and he looked at Ginny incredulously. She kept a straight face for a few moments, until she cracked up. "I really had you, didn't I?" she barely managed to say as she was still laughing. Mrs. Weasley put Harry to work trying on clothes while Mr. Weasley went out to check on the boys.

Soon, they had a good size pile of clothes that Harry was quite pleased to think would be his. As they were paying, Harry had a great idea. "Hey Ginny, I think that we should get the orange shirt for Ron. What do you say?"

"Good idea, it would be something Ron would really like. Then we can get some candy to go with it," agreed Ginny. While looking at clothes, they had decided to pool their money together for presents. Harry had no idea what made a good gift, because this would be the first Christmas present that he had ever brought, and he couldn't remember even getting presents.

With the clothes shopping out of the way, they visited several stores that had the items that Ginny suggested for presents. "Harry," Ginny called, "come and look at this. We have to get this for Lavender and Parvati. It's called Spell Polish. You paint it on your nails and then use the special spells included to make designs and pictures." Finally they managed to convince Mrs. Weasley to let them have ten minutes without her, so they could buy her a present. When they met up with Ginny's mother, they found her father also waiting. "Okay Harry, you go with Dad, and I'll go with Mum." She added when he looked puzzled, "That way I can find a gift for you."

Mr. Weasley asked Harry if he knew what to get for Ginny. One look at Harry's face told Mr. Weasley that buying a gift for Ginny might take a little time. He led Harry to "The Pink Witch" a shop that had things for girls. Harry turned pink, as he looked at all the girly things. These things didn't look like his friend Ginny. Suddenly he saw the perfect gift. He showed Mr. Weasley, "Do you think that Ginny will like this?"

"That is the perfect gift, Harry. You've found the secret to finding gifts for people you like. You first think of how you think about that person. Second, you think of what the things you are looking at will say to that person. Third, can they use the gift? If they all match, then you have a great gift." With smiles on both of their faces, they went to their group meeting place, Fortescue's Ice Cream Shop. The twins and Ron were eating ice cream. Harry sat down and ordered a treacle swirl. It was treacle mixed into vanilla ice cream. Harry was in seventh heaven with a wonderful combination. Mr. Weasley went to find Percy. It wasn't long before Ginny and Mrs. Weasley joined them.

"You sure did finish your shopping fast, Harry. Did you find something good for me?"

"For you, I didn't know that I was supposed to get something for you!" The twins and Ron really enjoyed watching Ginny get mad. Harry relented because he didn't want to ruin the day for Ginny. "Found the perfect gift for you right away." She smiled so big that Harry thought her ice cream wouldn't stay in her mouth. After everyone had some ice cream, they went to the Leaky Cauldron. The boys reluctantly admitted that they had eaten too much ice cream to be able to eat lunch, so they all flooed back to the Burrow.

After dinner Ginny helped clear the table and clean the kitchen, then she went to her room giving a smile to Harry. Harry and Ron went into the living room to play a game of chess. The twins were following them when Mr. Weasley said, "George and Fred, your mother and I would like to talk to you." They came back and sat down at the table. Looking at their parents with their most innocent gaze, they waited with high hopes that were soon to be dashed. "Boys, your mother and I were too busy with the start of school to think about what happened and how it happened. We have rectified this deficit."

Fred and George looked very puzzled, so Mr. Weasley explained, "We know what you did." The boys understood those words. With a quick glance between them, they instantly reacted. When the jigs up, confess and apologize hoping it will win points.

Turning puppy dog eyes at their mother, they gave it their best shot. "We are so sorry that Ron got left at home, but we were trying to make Ginny feel better. She was so upset that she wouldn't be able to make friends with Harry Potter, that we just had to help her."

"That won't work. We know that there was no way for Ginny to get Polyjuice Potion. You gave it to her and you helped her set Ron up. Although you were trying to help Ginny, what you did was wrong. Just like Ginny, you will have extra chores and go to your room after dinner. We better not hear any noise or playing. Go straight to bed and sleep." Without a word, they left the room. It wasn't long before Harry left the living room yawning as he went. Ron sat looking around, trying to figure out why there was no one left. When his parents came into the room and sat down, he instantly asked his father to play chess with him.

The next morning, Harry and Ginny were quietly playing when the twins joined them looking pretty awake for the time of day. "Why are you up so early?" asked Ginny.

"Mum and Dad had a chat with us last night about how you managed to change places with Ron. They decided: same crime, same punishment. What are you two doing this early?"

Harry got a sly look on his face, "We thought this over, Ginny had to go to bed right after dinner, but she had no restrictions on what she did in the morning. Every night we both go to bed early and then we play when we get up."

The twins looked at them and extended their hands, "Let us congratulate you. That is brilliant thinking. We are proud to know you. Can we join you?"

After a brief discussion about what to do, the twins went to their room to find a game that they had gotten several years previously. They set a large box on the floor. "This is a Wizard's Target game. It is charmed so you can control the wizard, who's holding a wand. You try to shoot at the bull's eye in the center of the moving target. The person with the highest score wins." Then they demonstrated how to play the game.

Harry was so excited. He had never had the chance to play with something this fantastic. He tried and was pleased to hit the target a few times. It wasn't a surprise that the twins did pretty well. After all they were older than Harry and Ginny, but he was shocked when Ginny took her turn. She had the highest score. "How did you get so good at this?" asked George.

"It was easy, George, when you boys wouldn't let me play quidditch with you, I would play this game." They took turns until it was time to fix breakfast. They all decided that there was no need to find out if their parents would approve of their morning activities. When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came downstairs, they found Harry, Ginny, and the twins setting the table. Maybe they should make everyone go to bed early from now on, thought Mr. Weasley. It was really quiet this way. Ron was so happy to find a big breakfast on the table when he came down, that he never realized that he was missing anything.


	7. Chapter 7 Have a Merry DetentionXmas

The Polyjuice Plot

By DoublePea

Author's Note: It's can't be said too many times, my beta MinistryMalcontent does a wonderful job. Simply Wonderful! Need I repeat that I'm not JK Rowland and no one is paying to read this story?

Chapter 7 Have a Merry Detention

The twins, Harry and Ginny decorated the Burrow for Christmas. Harry was surprised at the ornaments that came of the boxes. They weren't store bought, but were made by the family. They strung cranberries and popcorn on long strings. The twins complained a lot while they were stringing the popcorn. It seems that there was a charm that would do the same thing very quickly. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't allow it to be used, saying that things made with love were better. Ginny had a great time decorating because Harry was so happy with all the Christmas traditions of the family. Well maybe not all since the singing of Celestina Warbeck reminded Harry of a cat being tortured. She appeared to be a favorite singer of Mrs. Weasley.

A few days went by in the same way. Early to bed and early to rise and play, and don't tell Mum and Dad. Charlie, the second oldest brother arrived from his job in Romania at a dragon reserve. Harry was thrilled to hear Charlie's stories about dragons. After dinner, when the room cleared Charlie asked, "Why did the twins, Ginny, and Harry go to bed?"

"Well, Ron had a very unusual start at Hogwarts. We didn't want to write you what happened. We wanted to explain it to you in person," said Mr. Weasley. He told him a condensed version of what had happened.

"Ginny? Ginny did that? How in the world did she manage to change places with Ron?"

"The answer to that question is the reason that the twins are also going to bed after dinner."

"Is everything all right now? How's Ron?"

"Ron has calmed down now, and he and Harry are getting to know each other."

"Why is he just getting to know each other? Don't they see each other in the Gryffindor common room?"

"Ron's not in Gryffindor, he's in Slytherin," explained Mr. Weasley.

Charlie spent the evening muttering to his self, "Slytherin, I can't believe he's in Slytherin." When he came down to breakfast the next morning, he was surprised to see his mother enter the room, sit down at the table, and wait for breakfast to be served. This was the first time in his life that he had not seen his mother cook and serve breakfast. He also noticed that the twins, Ginny, and Harry seemed very happy for this early in the morning. When Bill, his older brother arrived from his job as a Gringotts' Curse Breaker in Egypt, he took him aside and confided what he had seen and his conclusions.

Christmas eve morning, found the usual foursome enjoying their early playtime. Bill and Charlie managed to surprise them. Bill looked at them sternly, "Okay, what gives? What are you doing and why is Ron in Slytherin?"

Fred said, "Maybe we should go outside, away from the house. We don't want to wake up anyone this early." They all walked out to the quidditch pitch and sat down. "It all happened because the Daily Prophet printed an article about Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley. We were looking at the pictures and Ginny was very interested. Ron told her that she wouldn't be able to be Harry's friend, because by the time she came to Hogwarts he would have all the friends that he needed."

"You're joking, even Ron wouldn't be so dumb, would he?" asked Charlie.

Ginny took over the story, "It so happens, that Ron is indeed that dumb. All I could think of was that I wouldn't be able to be Harry's friend because I was starting Hogwarts a year too late. It occurred to me that if I could just figure out a way to go this year, then I could be Harry's friend. Once I decided to change places with Ron, the plan all fell into place. Harry and I met going through Gate 9 ¾. On the train we talked, and I confessed that I had changed places with Ron."

"Were you still looking like Ron?" asked Bill.

"Yes, she looked exactly like Ron. You should have seen my face," Harry said, "when I asked her name. It was the funniest prank that I had ever heard." Harry chuckled shaking his head.

"That's why the twins and I have to go to bed after dinner," explained Ginny.

Bill looked at them and said, "That explains the nightly exodus, now what is going on in the morning."

The twins wondered if a bluff would work. After looking at their older brothers, they admitted, "Mum and Dad only said that we had to go to bed after dinner. They didn't say anything about what we needed to do in the morning. Since we go to bed so early, we found ourselves getting up early. Harry suggested that we could use the time to play."

"I think that you found the loop hole in your detention. Congratulations." Bill shook their hands.

Charlie still looked puzzled, "Would you please explain how Ron was sorted into Slytherin?" By the time the tale of the hall war was told, Bill and Charlie were laughing so hard they were holding their stomachs. When Ron walked into the kitchen for breakfast, Bill and Charlie took one look at him and started laughing.

"What's so funny? Why are you laughing?" Ron asked. His brothers just shook their heads. Ron didn't have time to wonder what was going on, because the food was placed on the table just then.

Malfoy Manor – Christmas Eve

Draco was sitting in the formal sitting room with his mother. They were waiting for the return home of Mr. Malfoy. He had been gone since Draco returned home from Hogwarts. Draco was dreaming not of sugarplums, but expensive brooms and other highly desirable gifts. He looked up when his father entered the room. Lucius Malfoy looked as if he had been very busy. His clothes were stained, wrinkled, and smelled of a rather pungent odor, an odor most foul.

Draco was an indulged and pampered child. He was a child raised by wealthy parents to someday take his place in society. He was not the brightest student in his year, but one look at his father convinced him to remain quiet.

Mrs. Malfoy, not having looked closely at her husband, asked, "Lucius, was your business successful?"

"No, madam, it was not. Perhaps if you had taken more time educating your son, than he would not be the dunderhead that he appears to be," he said with venom in his voice. Turning to Draco he asked, "Are you sure that Harry Potter told you his family were the 'Dirtsleys from Surrey'?"

"I think that is what he said. I'm not really sure, that was a week ago," explained Draco.

"Think of the conversation that you had with him about his family." His held out his wand and said Legilimens. What a mess, there was no order in Draco's mind. He was supposed to be seeing a conversation about Potter's family. Why in the name of Merlin was the child thinking about a broom? Hair gel? Now, he was finally seeing the correct conversation. Here it is, the name of Potter's family. "I'll be back when I can," he said leaving the room in a hurry.

Draco was relieved that his father was gone, and returned to thinking of new brooms.

Christmas at the Burrow

Ron woke with a start. Now Ron was not an early riser. He usually took a long time to be fully awake, but today was different. It was Christmas. He jumped up and looked over at Harry's bed. Hmm, empty. So he went to Ginny's room, also empty. The twin's room was next, it was empty. He was puzzled. He had never seen empty bedrooms on Christmas morning. Every other Christmas he had the delightful chore of waking everyone. After finding out that Bill and Charlie's rooms were also empty, he headed to his parent's room. He let out a breath, when he found them asleep. "Mum, Dad, wake up! It's Christmas morning, but I can't find anyone else. Wake UP!"

Arthur and Molly blearily opened their eyes and looked at their youngest son. They had hoped every year that Ron would outgrow waking them up, but once again they heard his dulcet tones yelling 'wake up'. "Son, what do you mean you can't find anyone?" asked his father.

"I've been to everyone's room and you are the only people that I can find."

The Weasley's sighed. "Ron I'm quite sure that you will find they are downstairs, waiting for us to join them," Mrs. Weasley suggested. Putting on their robes, they went downstairs to find a very quiet, empty house. Percy was in the living room reading one of his textbooks. No one else appeared to be in the house. "This is very strange," she said.

Just then they caught sight of a broom flying momentarily over the trees at the quidditch pitch. They walked outside to investigate. The closer they got to the pitch, the more noise they heard. Sure enough, all the missing people were having fun playing quidditch. "Hey, why are you playing without me?" asked Ron.

Bill replied, "If you had been up, Ron, you could have played. You were sound asleep when we started playing at dawn."

"Dawn? People get up at dawn?" Ron was flabbergasted. He prided himself in sleeping as late as he possibly could. The idea of anyone getting up at dawn and doing anything was impossible for him to understand. Then he remembered why he WAS up and what day it was. "It's Christmas, presents. Let's open our presents." The quidditch players landed their brooms and went inside.

Harry sat and watched the mayhem of seven children opening Christmas presents. Mrs. Weasley had been noticing that Harry made no attempt to look for his presents. She was afraid that he was not used to getting presents. "Ginny, why don't you give Harry his presents. He has several under the tree," suggested Mrs. Weasley.

If it weren't for the tags that said 'To Harry', he would not have believed that the packages were for him. Finally he opened the big, puffy one. He very carefully opened it so he wouldn't tear the pretty paper. Mrs. Weasley had given him a jumper. He had noticed Ginny and her brothers all had the same type of jumper. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Weasley. This is wonderful!" Harry almost started crying. Never had anyone he could remember bothered to make something for him. He pulled it over his head. Warm.

He stopped to watch Ron open his and Ginny's present. "Wow, look at this shirt. I can't believe it. This was the year that I was born. I love it, thank you so much," said Ron.

Harry and Ginny were down to their last package from each other. They opened them up and Ginny was so choked up, she couldn't talk. Harry looked at his male styled bracelet that said 'BFF'. He looked at Ginny. "Harry, that stands for 'Best Friends Forever'. She was holding her friends bracelet. How could he have gotten such a perfect gift for her? "Did you have help picking this out, Harry?"

"No, the minute that I saw this, I knew that this was your gift."

The rest of the morning was spent looking at other people's gifts. When they heard a knock at the back door, most everyone was surprised. Mr. Weasley let the gentleman in and brought him to the living room. "I would like to introduce our guest who is going to join us for dinner, Remus Lupin. Remus, these are my sons, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron. This is my daughter, Ginny and her friend, Harry Potter. Harry, Remus was a friend of your father at Hogwarts and he knew both of your parents."

With an amazed look, Harry watched Remus walk over to where he was. "It's good to meet you, Ginny. Harry, it has been a long time since I've seen you." Remus' hands were shaking as he tried to figure out if he should hug Harry, or wait until they were more comfortable together. "You look like your father with your mother's eyes. We have a lot to talk over." Harry was so surprised to meet someone who knew his parents. They spent the afternoon talking. It was great to be able to ask questions about his parents. He never pictured when he came home with Ginny that it would be so wonderful.

Malfoy Manor Christmas Day

Draco raced downstairs Christmas morning filled with high expectations. Racing brooms and lots of toys filled his head. Reality hit hard. He found ink, quills, and parchment. He searched under the tree and only came up with one package. It was rectangular and felt like a book. Who got a book for Christmas? Upon opening, he discovered, it was a book. "Clearing the Cluttered Mind" by Mrs. Keepit Klean. What in the world was happening? "Mother, why did I get only a book for Christmas?"

"I don't know, Draco, your father has been gone most of the week. He's gone today, too. He seemed distraught. I have no idea what he's doing; and the way he was acting, I didn't want to ask."

The Burrow

The next week passed by swiftly. They continued to play in the mornings. After a week, Bill mentioned that it was New Years Eve. They had to explain the holiday to Harry. He had spent all his New Years in his cupboard. Since, they had all been going to bed early, they decided on naps in the afternoon to make it to midnight. The evening was enjoyable with most of the family playing games. Just before midnight, Mr. Weasley pulled Harry aside. "Harry, would you help us with an old tradition?"

"Sure Mr. Weasley, I would be happy to do it." So at the stoke of midnight everyone yelled "Happy New Year." There was a knock on the front door. When Mr. Weasley opened up the door, there was Harry carrying a piece of coal, a plate of shortbread, and a bottle of fire whiskey.

"Harry is our First Footer. He brought good fortune to us for this New Year. Welcome to our home, Harry."

"I thought that the First Footer was supposed to be tall and dark," said George.

Mr. Weasley answered, "Harry is dark haired, that is good enough for our household."

Meanwhile somewhere in Surrey, a dirty and tired but determined Lucius Malfoy muttered under his breath, "If it's the last thing that I do, I WILL find the Dudley family."


End file.
